2018 NA LCS Summer Playoffs Quarterfinals are almost upon us, and while we won’t get a chance to see the top seeds, Team Liquid and Cloud9, just yet, that doesn’t make the match ups we’re about to see in a few days much less entertaining.

If anything else, the teams playing at the 2018 NA LCS Summer Playoffs Quarterfinals will have a lot more to lose, and we’ve got exactly what you need to know which of them are worth banking on.

2018 NA LCS Summer Playoffs Quarterfinals

Echo Fox vs Team SoloMid

Will Damonte finally have a career-defining performance in the playoffs? (via lolesports Flickr)

This is a really unpredictable match up. You just never know what form both teams would show in this match in particular.

Team SoloMid has moments where it seems to be exhibiting its true potential as a roster full of veteran talent. However, TSM also has moments where if one removed the name tags, you would not think that these players were the ones piloting the champions.

Echo Fox aren’t the most consistent team either themselves, but they are always on the hunt for a fight. In some games, it makes it look like they planned everything: they would catch an enemy multiple times and continue forcing more mistakes, using that advantage to just snowball and take the game. Sometimes, the case is just they do not execute well and still attempt to fight from there.

In terms of general playing experience, you would think that TSM should win. After all, most of its members have won multiple LCS championships in the past. On the other hand, Echo Fox’s Tanner “Damonte” Damonte and Lawrence “Lost” Hui have never been in a best of five, and have rather shallow champion pools. But, we can’t exactly just turn a blind eye to the obvious — Echo Fox are 3-0 against TSM this split.

Having said that, my prediction for this particular match up is for Echo Fox to go 3-1. Although the volatile nature of both teams make predicting the result extremely difficult, I decided to go with Echo Fox’s winning record against TSM.

100 Thieves vs FlyQuest

Ryu’s stability will be vital to 100 Thieves’ success in the 2018 NA LCS Summer Playoffs Quarterfinals and in future matches should they advance. (via lolesports Flickr)

100 Thieves have always had really long games no matter who they faced, and they do not look like they plan to change anytime soon.

100 Thieves will always depend on Ryu “Ryu” Sang-wook’s stability in the middle lane, although it is quite intriguing that Jang “Keane” Lae-young seems to have the same role on FlyQuest: never the person to be set up to carry, but is expected to be a dependable asset for the team.

The jungle matchup is a bit lopsided: Andy “AnDa” Hoang is a rookie, and Lucas “Santorin” Tao Kilmer Larsen is a seasoned veteran. Additionally, The top lane will be a point of interest, as each team’s top lane is manned by Korean superstar in Lee “Flame” Ho-jong and Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho, respectively.

Lastly, the bottom lane is just a plain mismatch. FlyQuest has a veteran in the bottom lane carry position and a rookie in the support role, and 100 Thieves have a veteran support and a relatively younger bottom lane carry.

FlyQuest has always appeared to go into a game with a good idea of what they’re going to do. Their early games are often planned perfectly, using their early leads to snowball into a win. Unfortunately, they usually have no backup plan if it fails, resulting in them just scrambling to find something to help them win the game.

While I predict that this will be a close series that could go all the way to five games, 100 Thieves’ late-game oriented play style should eventually win out against FlyQuest’s early-game execution.

Final Thoughts

These are predictions based on data points to the teams’ performances in the summer, but we might see some upsets in the fashion of what Clutch Gaming did to Team SoloMid last split. Remember that Team Liquid gets to pick whichever team they wish to face in the semifinal, and whichever team does not pull off a convincing win will probably go against the top team in the League.

Either way, the road to Worlds starts here for the remaining teams and there are no more chances left if they fail.

What do you think of our analysis of the 2018 NA LCS Summer Playoffs Quarterfinals? Do you think Echo Fox and 100 Thieves will get away with the win in the quarterfinals? Will we see an upset? Let us know in the comments below!

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